Rs 500 crore heritage city plan moves at snail's pace

Against the March 2017 deadline set for the Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY), the government has only approved plans worth Rs 400 crore till date.Dipak K Dash | TNN | October 10, 2016, 11:31 IST

File photoNEW DELHI: Sluggish progress in the Rs 500 crore scheme for holistic development of 12 heritage cities has come as a reality check for the government amid claims of record rollout of major urban development projects such as Smart City and AMRUT.

Against the March 2017 deadline set for the Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY), the government has only approved plans worth Rs 400 crore till date.

The urban development ministry launched the scheme in January 2015 for development of core heritage infrastructure projects. This includes revitalization of urban infrastructure around heritage assets.

The works include development of water supply, sanitation, waste management, tourist conveniences, and landscaping.

Officials said all work plans for Varanasi, Amritsar, Puri, Dwarka and Warangal have been approved. While some works are underway, the rest will be taken up soon. It was only last week that the inter-ministerial empowered committee approved infrastructure projects worth Rs 114 crore for these five cities.

Sources said urban development secretary Rajiv Gauba had asked officials to meet the deadline at any cost. A ministry spokesperson said the delay was because the project was a new one.